How do you determine what SQL Tables have an identity column programmatically

Question

I want to create a list of columns in SQL Server 2005 that have identity columns and their corresponding table in T-SQL.

Results would be something like:

Tab

Answer 1

here's a working version for MSSQL 2000. I've modified the 2005 code found here: http://sqlfool.com/2011/01/identity-columns-are-you-nearing-the-limits/

/* Define how close we are to the value limit
   before we start throwing up the red flag.
   The higher the value, the closer to the limit. */
DECLARE @threshold DECIMAL(3,2);
SET @threshold = .85;

/* Create a temp table */
CREATE TABLE #identityStatus
(
      database_name     VARCHAR(128)
    , table_name        VARCHAR(128)
    , column_name       VARCHAR(128)
    , data_type         VARCHAR(128)
    , last_value        BIGINT
    , max_value         BIGINT
);

DECLARE @dbname sysname;
DECLARE @sql nvarchar(4000);

-- Use an cursor to iterate through the databases since in 2000 there's no sp_MSForEachDB command...

DECLARE c cursor FAST_FORWARD FOR
SELECT
    name
FROM
    master.dbo.sysdatabases 
WHERE 
    name NOT IN('master', 'model', 'msdb', 'tempdb');

OPEN c;

FETCH NEXT FROM c INTO @dbname;

WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
    SET @sql = N'Use [' + @dbname + '];
    Insert Into #identityStatus
    Select ''' + @dbname + ''' As [database_name]
        , Object_Name(id.id) As [table_name]
        , id.name As [column_name]
        , t.name As [data_type]
        , IDENT_CURRENT(Object_Name(id.id)) As [last_value]
        , Case 
            When t.name = ''tinyint''   Then 255 
            When t.name = ''smallint''  Then 32767 
            When t.name = ''int''       Then 2147483647 
            When t.name = ''bigint''    Then 9223372036854775807
          End As [max_value]
    From 
        syscolumns As id
        Join systypes As t On id.xtype = t.xtype
    Where 
        id.colstat&1 = 1    -- this identifies the identity columns (as far as I know)
    ';

    EXECUTE sp_executesql @sql;

    FETCH NEXT FROM c INTO @dbname;
END

CLOSE c;
DEALLOCATE c;

/* Retrieve our results and format it all prettily */
SELECT database_name
    , table_name
    , column_name
    , data_type
    , last_value
    , CASE 
        WHEN last_value < 0 THEN 100
        ELSE (1 - CAST(last_value AS FLOAT(4)) / max_value) * 100 
      END AS [percentLeft]
    , CASE 
        WHEN CAST(last_value AS FLOAT(4)) / max_value >= @threshold
            THEN 'warning: approaching max limit'
        ELSE 'okay'
        END AS [id_status]
FROM #identityStatus
ORDER BY percentLeft;

/* Clean up after ourselves */
DROP TABLE #identityStatus;

Answer 2

Another way (for 2000 / 2005/2012/2014):

IF ((SELECT OBJECTPROPERTY( OBJECT_ID(N'table_name_here'), 'TableHasIdentity')) = 1)
    PRINT 'Yes'
ELSE
    PRINT 'No'

NOTE: table_name_here should be schema.table, unless the schema is dbo.

Answer 3

In SQL 2005:

select object_name(object_id), name
from sys.columns
where is_identity = 1

Answer 4

This worked for SQL Server 2005, 2008, and 2012. I found that the sys.identity_columns did not contain all my tables with identity columns.

SELECT a.name AS TableName, b.name AS IdentityColumn
FROM sys.sysobjects a 
JOIN sys.syscolumns b 
ON a.id = b.id
WHERE is_identity = 1
ORDER BY name;

Looking at the documentation page the status column can also be utilized. Also you can add the four part identifier and it will work across different servers.

SELECT a.name AS TableName, b.name AS IdentityColumn
FROM [YOUR_SERVER_NAME].[YOUR_DB_NAME].sys.sysobjects a 
JOIN [YOUR_SERVER_NAME].[YOUR_DB_NAME].sys.syscolumns b 
ON a.id = b.id
WHERE is_identity = 1
ORDER BY name;

Source: https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms186816.aspx

Answer 5

Another potential way to do this for SQL Server, which has less reliance on the system tables (which are subject to change, version to version) is to use the INFORMATION_SCHEMA views:

select COLUMN_NAME, TABLE_NAME
from INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
where COLUMNPROPERTY(object_id(TABLE_SCHEMA+'.'+TABLE_NAME), COLUMN_NAME, 'IsIdentity') = 1
order by TABLE_NAME 

Answer 6

This worked for me using Sql Server 2008:

USE <database_name>;
GO
SELECT SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) AS schema_name
    , t.name AS table_name
    , c.name AS column_name
FROM sys.tables AS t
JOIN sys.identity_columns c ON t.object_id = c.object_id
ORDER BY schema_name, table_name;
GO